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complained to him of their lot, as remarking that “all of them ascribed their misfortune, probably quite erroneously, to Jewish competition.” That they were in error is seen by the fact that Simpson states quite clearly that “the most serious cause of additional unemployment is the factor not even remotely connected with the Jews; the cessation of conscription for the army prevalent under the Turkish government.

ARAB JOBLESS RECENT PHENOMENON

As Simpson further points out there is weight to be attached to the opinion that ‘the suspension of labor immigration has created the impression that the British government is, if not hostile, at least apathetic in the matter of the National Home…. As a result of the impression so created, the flow of capital into Palestine, and of subscriptions for settlement work in that country have both been affected.’ It is undoubtedly true that, during the past few months, Jewish capital has flowed into Palestine less freely than before; the Jews have been discouraged, and it would not be surprising if the Arabs had to pay the price….” As for the general effect of Jewish immigration on the labor market, the memorandum shows that this question is examined by Simpson in his report and he concludes that “in many directions Jewish development has meant more work for the Arabs.

Passing from questions of fact to questions of principle the memorandum compares the test laid down in the White Paper of 1922 for dealing with the control of immigration with that laid down in the White Paper of 1930. The White Paper of 1922 said that the immigrants “must not deprive any section of the present population of their employment,” which means, the memorandum declares, “not that the Jews must be in a position to show that not a single Arab has been displaced as a result of Jewish immigration, but that, taking the Arab population as a whole, Jewish immigration is not having the effect of reducing the number of Arabs in employment.”

COMPARES 1922 AND 1930 WHITE PAPERS

The 1930 White Paper says, the memorandum points out, that “if immigration of Jews results in preventing the Arab population from obtaining the work necessary for its maintenance, or if Jewish unemployment unfavorably affects the general labor position, it is the duty of the Mandatory under the Mandate to reduce, or if necessary, to suspend, such immigration until the unemployed portion of the ‘other section’ is in a postion to obtain work.” The practical implications of this statement, as they are intended to be translated into administrative practice, are nowhere precisely defined, the memorandum says.

Defining these implications, the memorandum says they are “that the Arabs are not only to be protected from being thrown out of work by Jewish immigrants, but are to be deemed to have an inherent right to obtain the work necessary for their maintenannce, and that the government has a duty to see that the Arabs are provided with employment,—a duty taking priority over its obligation under article 6 of the Mandate to facilitate the immigration of Jews…. Not only will the restriction, or even the suspension, of immigration apparently be held to be justified if the government believes that this will make it easier for unemployed Arabs to get work; the plain meaning of the latter part of paragraph 28 is that it will be sufficient if it can be ‘plausibly represented’ to the Arabs that this is the case. Finally, even when these representations are not. ‘plausible’ enough to be taken seriously, Jewish immigration, in so far as it is permitted, is still to be subject to the condition that the employment available for the immigrants can be shown to be permanent….

“There are thus three obstacles to be surmounted before Jewish immigration can take place, (a) the government must return a favorable answer to the highly speculative question of whether such immigration will result in Jews occupying positions which might otherwise be occupied by unemployed Arabs; (b) it must not be possible for it to be ‘plausibly represented’ to the Arabs that this will be the case; (c) the employment available for the Jewish immigrants must be permanent employment.”

UNLIMITED ROOM FOR OBSTRUCTION

Seeing in this last point unlimited room for obstruction, the memorandum says “there is hardly any constructional or other capital works of which it could not be said that the employment they offer is only temporary; and it stands to reason that, dealing as they are with a country at a primitive stage of development, the Jews must devote a large part of their resources to works of this character if the foundations of the Jewish National Home are to be laid. Is it to be said that, in carrying out such works, the Jews must employ Arab labor in cases in which Jewish labor available on the spot is not sufficient or suitable? It is not suggested that immigrants ought to be brought in for employment which is obviously of a purely ephemeral nature, but the language of the White Paper is capable of an alarmingly wide interpretation, and might be easily used to exclude Jewish immigrants on the pretext that it was not positively certain they would never be out of work.”

The memorandum points out that if the implications of paragraph 28 of the White Paper are what they appear to be, the results would in the long run be detrimental to Arab as well as to Jewish interest because “if enterprises founded with Jewish capital with a view toward the employment of Jewish labor are to be prevented from importing such labor on the ground that unemployed Arabs have a prior claim, some individual Arabs may temporarily benefit, but the Arab population as a whole will eventually suffer.” This is so, the memorandum says, because Jewish capital is largely invested in Palestine by the prospect of providing employment for Jewish labor and if the admission of Jewish labor and if the admission of Jewish immigrants is suspended in the interests of the Arab unemployed this flow of capital will cease, resulting in the Arabs losing the indirect employment they get from the circulation of Jewish money; the government will no longer be able to count on the expansion of revenue in the benefits of which the Arabs share out of all proportions to their contributions and the eventual result will be that in so far as it is designed to further the interests of the Arab population, the White Paper will defeat its own ends.

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH DUE TO JEWS

With regard to the underlying suggestion of the White Paper’s section on immigration that Jewish and Arab labor normally compete for the same employment, the memorandum quotes the Simpson report as saying “in so far as Jewish labor is employed on works which are being carried out solely with imported Jewish capital, there is no ground for the belief.” Since Simpson further states that the rapid development of industrial enterprise in Palestine since the war is “almost entirely due to the importation of Jewish capital,” so far, therefore as Jewish labor is employed in industry, the memorandum contends that it follows that no question of competition with Arab labor can be said to arise. Similarly the memorandum shows that no question of competition enters in the case of Jewish labor employed in agriculture or even in the building and transport trades.

The only other field in which Jewish and Arab labor could compete, the memorandum continues, is that of the public works. Here the memorandum shows that of the total expenditure of $12,674,125 spent by the public works department during the period from 1920 to 1928 (exclusive of purely administrative expenditure) the work executed by Jewish labor represented an expenditure of only $1,733,050, a ratio substantially less than the ratio of Jews to the total population. The memorandum further states that the “Jews who are in Palestine are there ‘as of right and not on sufferance’; they are just as much entitled to be regarded as an integral part of the population as the Arabs, and it will presumably be admitted in any case that if employment on public works is available, the claim of the Jewish as well as of the Arab section of the population must be taken into account in any allocation of such employment. The Jews are entitled to share in such work at least in proportion to their numbers, and in practice no question can arise in this connection except in the case of the quantity of Jewish labor available on the spot being insufficient to fill the Jewish quota.”

JEWS HEAVIEST TAX PAYERS

As a further point the memorandum notes that the government can only carry out public works to the extent to which it commands the necessary revenue, and the Jews contribute to the revenue out of all proportion to their